KINGWOOD, W.Va. — It was a beautiful morning Saturday at Preston High as University and the Knights opened their girls’ soccer schedules in bright sunshine, cool breezes and positive energy.
It can be tough to keep the energy up when you play a man down for most of the match, and facing a controlled, relentless possession game can be discouraging, too. The combination resulted in a 4-0 University victory.
According to Hawks’ coach Graham Peace, his young team is departing from their penchant over the last few years for long, probing passes and instead are emphasizing playing to feet and slowly building offensive pressure. The technique worked well throughout the match and led to the first goal of the game in the 13th minute.
Freshman forward Emily Lattea gathered a loose ball from 30 yards out and launched a shot toward the upper right corner that Knights keeper Kinley Manko was able to reach, but not secure. The shot trickled through her hands and barely snuck over the line for a 1-0 Hawks lead.
University switched fields beautifully while connecting and communicating well, and strong midfield play kept the ball in their attacking third for most of the match, although a Preston red card in the 25th minute made the Hawks’ job a bit easier.
Ball pressure produced another turnover and a second goal in the 31st minute, as sophomore Mia Travis powered a shot to the same corner that Manko knocked down, bobbled and appeared to corral right at the goal line. But the assistant referee, in perfect position, confirmed that the ball had completely crossed the line for a 2-0 Hawks lead.
The Knights nearly bit into the UHS lead in the last minute of the half, but Hawks keeper Lizzy Edwards quickly dove to her right and punched away a hard shot that emerged from a scrum of players at the edge of the penalty area to preserve the shutout.
University produced a mirrored pair of high quality strikes in the second half. In the 53rd minute, Lattea pried loose another turnover and dribbled diagonally across the 18-yard line from left to right, then planted, twisted and launched a lofted right footed shot that found the opposite corner, increasing the advantage to 3-0.
Finally, in the 78th minute, junior Tristen Bright shot from a similar angle and picked the same corner to close out the scoring. The short handed Knights looked dangerous late in the first half, and extended their solid play in the early stages of the second half before fading.
“I’ve never coached a man down before, so we all were kind of learning on the fly,” first-year coach Sarah Kinsey admitted. “But I liked how we connected and stayed calm and collected at the start of the second half. That’s just what we’re after. It’s tough to play down, especially against a possession team as organized as UHS.
“I told the girls that this is a long season, and we’re just at the start of it. We wanted to start over in the second half, and we did well with that, and we can do the same with this game, too. I want them to use this result as motivation to come to practice with energy, intensity and focus so we can get better.”
For Peace, it was a perfect start to the season.
“A great day, a tough, hard-working, physical opponent and some well-played soccer,” he said. “We want to play a more beautiful game, the kind of soccer teams like Liverpool and Manchester City play in the Premier League. We were calm on the ball, moved well — although playing a man up made that easier, of course — and communicated very well. We didn’t connect as well as we need to in the final third, but that just focuses us on what we need to work on in practice. All in all, I couldn’t be happier.”
The Hawks travel to Parkersburg South on Tuesday, while Preston has an extended break before facing Elkins on the road Sept. 5.
